Now, You May Have to Leave Early to Board a Bus

BANGALORE : The Transport Department has decided to crack down on private bus operators who pick up and drop passengers at multiple points in the city, stating that it is a violation of rules.

According to the rules, a bus which is licensed as a contract carriage (which picks up passengers from one point and drops them off to their destination) cannot be used as a stage carriage (which picks up people from multiple points). However, according to officials, this is often flouted by private bus operators.

Transport Commissioner Ramegowda recently told Express the department will continue to crack down on such operators.

“We have appointed teams which will be stationed at different parts of the city and check transport vehicles,” he said. He said the festive season is the best time to launch such a drive as the bus operators try to milk the increased influx of passengers. “Considering that during the festive season passengers carry items like crackers and other dangerous goods, it will be a perilous situation.  If there are multiple points for boarding, there will be no security. The bags of passengers cannot be checked, and any illegal item can be moved around,” he said. 

Unhappy Private Operators

Rajashekhar, CEO of SRS Travels, said there is no logic in the move. He said convenience, a passenger’s main requirement, will now be lost.

He condemned the move to penalise private operators for no fault of theirs and called the existing law ‘outdated’.

“We are only trying to offer our passengers convenience. If the authorities crack the whip, we will suffer losses. The law needs to be amended,” he said.

 “We have customers staying in different parts of the city. It will be tough for them to come to a centralised location. Our smaller buses pick up these passengers from different locations and bring them to the place where the main bus departs. This works fine.”

“But imagine a situation in which a passenger has paid `600 to travel to Bangalore and reaches early morning. He/she will have to pay an additional `250-300 to get home. Instead, we drop them. What is wrong?” he asked.